How has your life changed because of your conversion to Jesus Christ and his gospel?
"6 And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away." (Alma 23: 6)
"6 And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away.
7 For they became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their brethren." (Alma 23: 6-7)
"17 And it came to pass that they called their names Anti-Nephi-Lehies; and they were called by this name and were no more called Lamanites.
18 And they began to be a very industrious people; yea, and they were friendly with the Nephites; therefore, they did open a correspondence with them, and the curse of God did no more follow them."
"15 Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us hide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto us and has made us clean thereby.
16 And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall go to our God and shall be saved.
17 And now it came to pass that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and all the people were assembled together, they took their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man’s blood, and they did bury them up deep in the earth.
18 And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they never would use weapons again for the shedding of man’s blood; and this they did, vouching and covenanting with God, that rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would give up their own lives; and rather than take away from a brother they would give unto him; and rather than spend their days in idleness they would labor abundantly with their hands.
19 And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.
20 And it came to pass that their brethren, the Lamanites, made preparations for war, and came up to the land of Nephi for the purpose of destroying the king, and to place another in his stead, and also of destroying the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi out of the land.
21 Now when the people saw that they were coming against them they went out to meet them, and prostrated themselves before them to the earth, and began to call on the name of the Lord; and thus they were in this attitude when the Lamanites began to fall upon them, and began to slay them with the sword." (Alma 24: 15-21)
"13 And it came to pass that when the Lamanites saw that they could not overpower the Nephites they returned again to their own land; and many of them came over to dwell in the land of Ishmael and the land of Nephi, and did join themselves to the people of God, who were the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi.
14 And they did also bury their weapons of war, according as their brethren had, and they began to be a righteous people; and they did walk in the ways of the Lord, and did observe to keep his commandments and his statutes.
15 Yea, and they did keep the law of Moses; for it was expedient that they should keep the law of Moses as yet, for it was not all fulfilled. But notwithstanding the law of Moses, they did look forward to the coming of Christ, considering that the law of Moses was a type of his coming, and believing that they must keep those outward performances until the time that he should be revealed unto them.
16 Now they did not suppose that salvation came by the law of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a hope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come." (Alma 25: 13-16)
"26 And it came to pass that it did cause great joy among them. And they went down into the land of Jershon, and took possession of the land of Jershon; and they were called by the Nephites the people of Ammon; therefore they were distinguished by that name ever after.
27 And they were among the people of Nephi, and also numbered among the people who were of the church of God. And they were also distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end.
28 And they did look upon shedding the blood of their brethren with the greatest abhorrence; and they never could be prevailed upon to take up arms against their brethren; and they never did look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it.
29 Therefore, they would suffer death in the most aggravating and distressing manner which could be inflicted by their brethren, before they would take the sword or cimeter to smite them.
30 And thus they were a zealous and beloved people, a highly favored people of the Lord." (Alma 27: 26-30)
And here's the commentary entitled: "My conversion to Jesus Christ and His gospel will change my life." :
"The Lamanites seemed to be unlikely candidates for conversion, yet many of them experienced miraculous changes because of Jesus Christ. These converted Lamanites called themselves Anti-Nephi-Lehies.
Reading Alma 23–25; 27 might prompt you to ponder your own conversion. Look for how the Anti-Nephi-Lehies changed—how they were converted “unto the Lord” (Alma 23:6). The following verses can get you started:
In what ways have Jesus Christ and His gospel changed you? When have you felt close to Him? How can you tell if you are becoming converted to Jesus Christ? What is the Spirit prompting you to do next?
See also David A. Bednar, “Converted unto the Lord,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2012, 106–9; Dale G. Renlund, “Unwavering Commitment to Jesus Christ,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2019, 22–25."
Jesus Christ and His gospel have changed me in many ways--the way I think about myself, the way I think about others, and the actions that I choose to do. I have felt close to the Lord whenever I choose to be grateful for his creations that I see around me and for the blessings I receive. Also when he would come to my rescue as I was going through a situation I also felt close to Him. I can tell I am becoming converted to Jesus Christ as I acknowledge him more and more in my life. He truly is in the details and in the details and the details of my life. I'm always seeing his power even in the little things. This is because I am more aware that he is there for me. I know I can do all things through him. In mercy, he is always covering my weakness with power, as the hymn "The Lord is My Light" says.
The Spirit is prompting me to hold up my light (Jesus Christ) that it may shine into the world. I'm grateful for the privilege for me to do this with the technology we have now. Writing and sharing this blog is possible because of the internet. Doing my FB Live video every Sunday is also possible. The Spirit prompted me before and continually prompting me to continue to write and share my blog and to also do my FB Live videos to hold Jesus Christ up being my light, that it may shine into the world.
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